Sunday, January 31, 2016

Air Malta is
planning an enhanced summer 2016 flight schedule that will see improved
flight timings on Manchester, Catania, Vienna, Lyon and Marseille and
increased frequency on Berlin. The Maltese airline will continue being
the largest operator to London and the UK by offering a selection of 30
weekly flights to seven airports. With this schedule, running from the Mar. 27th till Oct. 29th, Air Malta aims to carry over one million
passengers.

A
number of changes to last year’s summer schedule were made to maximise
opportunities, increase efficiency and make flights more attractive,
both for travellers from Malta as well as for the tourists visiting the
islands this summer. "This
summer our goal is to achieve targets by doing more with less and
dedicating all our resources on Malta. We are following a channel rich
distribution strategy that includes tour operators, travel agents, group
travel and direct selling through our website. We remain the strongest
carrier on Malta operating a selection of 135 weekly flights with the
best flight timings, best airport selection and competitive pricing",
said Chief Commercial Officer Ursula Silling.This
summer Air Malta will continue being the largest charter operator
to/from Malta and is planning an interesting program for Maltese and
foreign operators. Discussions with charter operators are currently
underway. (Source: Air Malta, 29-Jan-2016)

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Malta IAP is expecting at least 4.73 million passengers this year, a 2.4% increase in traffic from 2015 when 4,618,642 visitors were registered.

“Every year our challenge is to keep building on the year-on-year
successes of the past decade, while investing strategically to cater for
projected growth. This year is no exception. We are investing more than
ever before while working closely with airlines and other partners to
keep building our network and increase Malta’s connectivity,” MIA CEO A. Borg told a press conference.

He said the results of last year showed the airport was achieving its
goal of increasing traffic in the winter months. December alone saw a 9% increase over last year, he pointed out, thanking the Malta
Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism for their continuous
support in attracting new airlines and passengers. Throughout this
winter, M.I.A. will be connected to another three airports, bringing the
total to 57.

Three new airlines are expected to start flying next summer, including Volotea to Catania, Iberia Express to Madrid and Czech Airlines to Prague.

Meanwhile, EasyJet will launch a new route to Geneva and Ryanair will
be expanding their operations by another ten routes in the summer,
including Poznan, Baden-Baden and Cologne.

Flights will also be added to Athens, Budapest and Helsinki, through
Aegean, Wizz Air and Finnair respectively, all relative newcomers to
Malta International Airport.

Last year was a very positive year for M.I.A., with passenger growth of
7.7% over 2014, a total increase of 328,338 passengers. Aircraft
movements increased by 6.3%, while seat capacity went up by 5.8%.

The top markets for 2015 remained the United Kingdom, which saw an
increase of 4.7%, Italy, which increased by 13.3% and
Germany which increased by 3.1%. Substantial increases were also
registered from Turkey (82.7%), Poland (50.1%) and
Switzerland (18.7%).

Crucially, seat load factor also increased to 81.1% from 79.7%, meaning planes are being filled closer to capacity. Meanwhile,
Cargo and Mail was up by 5.6% from 15,547 tonnes in 2014 to
16,414 tonnes in 2015.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Borg thanked all the 5,000 employees
working at the airport for the commitment and dedication they show every
single day, hence making another record year possible. He added that
through the collaboration with its partners, Malta International Airport
continuously seeks to raise the quality of experience for passengers,
with the goal of becoming the best airport in Europe. (Source: maltairport.com, 19-Jan-2016

Monday, January 11, 2016

The German Navy Berlin-class multi-product replenishment tanker FGS Berlin (A 1411) has sailed into Valletta Port (the Grand Harbour) this afternoon on a courtesy visit.The German auxiliary is presently berthing alongside at Pinto-1 wharf, and she's scheduled to sail from the Grand Harbour in the coming days. (11-Jan-2016)